Hello all! My name is Jessie Lukasik, and if you have anything you’d like to ask about the Academy (or the wonders of life as a 4/c cadet) please feel free to email me at Jessica.D.Lukasik@uscga.edu. I’d be more than happy to give you whatever info or insights I can.

I spent the entire first 18 years of my life living in the Deep South just waiting to get out. It’s not that there was anything wrong with life in Georgia. On the contrary, I was thoroughly enjoying myself in high school. I’ve always kept insanely busy – with violin, swimming, academics (yeah, I’m that turbo-nerd), triathlons and musical theater and, most recently, rugby. I love to bake, bask in the sun, shop-till-I drop, and write short stories, when I’m not otherwise occupied. But the same personality trait that allowed me to have so much fun back home – the drive to be totally hyperactive – also made me feel a little restless stuck in the Atlanta suburbs. I wanted to see the world; I wanted to have a job, a significant job; I wanted to be somewhere where I’d forever and always have the opportunity to try new, exciting, challenging things. How lucky I was to find the Coast Guard Academy!

It’s a little bit baffling, how I ended up here at the CGA. I spent most of my Junior year in high school looking into Ivies for college; I’d never had any intention of joining the military, and quite frankly I knew next to nothing about the Coast Guard and absolutely nothing about the Academy. I found it almost by accident (you never know where a Google search will lead you!), but I was intrigued. I came to the Academy, toured as a “bean sprout,” and I was hooked. The energy, the enthusiasm, the loyalty, the companionship, and the excitement I found here – it blew my mind.

Currently I’m a 2/c at the Academy, and, true to form, I’ve already made an attempt to do everything and anything I can (and probably set up an insane schedule for myself if the process). I play for the Women’s Rugby team, participate in Triathlon Club and Cadet Activities Council, sing in Protestant Choir and Glee Club, and am making a bold attempt to learn to dance through International Ballroom Dance Club. Am I busy? Ridiculously so. But am I having the time of my life? Absolutely.